Texas citrus is showing heavy crops, but limited summer irrigation has led to smaller fruit sizes so far, said Juan Anciso of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Anciso is an AgriLife Extension vegetable specialist and associate head of the Department of Horticultural Sciences at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslaco.
According to Anciso, quality continues to remain good to excellent for Texas citrus. Grapefruit continue to produce acidity levels that consumers seek, while Texas oranges could use cooler nighttime temperatures to help fruit color and increase sugar levels.
SHIPPING VOLUME DOWN
Harvest crews continue to pick fruit but are choosing market-size-appropriate oranges and grapefruit, Anciso said. Fruit sizes led to shipping volume setbacks compared to last year. By Nov. 8, 2024, about 636,000 40-pound boxes of fresh grapefruit and oranges had been shipped, compared to just 448,000 boxes so far this year.
LOWER PRICES
Prices are much lower than last year, Anciso reported. Producers are getting about $20 to $22 per box, compared to $26 to $32 per box last year.
“We don’t know if it’s exports or just declining demand driving the prices down, but it has been a significant drop,” Anciso said.
POST-URI RECOVERY
Most Texas orchards have bounced back from Winter Storm Uri in 2021, but the industry continues to face challenges related to up-and-down prices and water availability, Anciso said.
After Uri, Texas fresh grapefruit production fell to 1.6 million 40-pound boxes for the 2021–22 season, down 33% from the previous year. Orange production was about 400,000 boxes, down 62%.
Lingering effects still impact production in older-growth trees, but total fresh fruit production hit 4.1 million boxes in the 2023–24 season. Production dipped some during the 2024–25 season to 3.6 million boxes.
Anciso said it was too early to tell where the final harvest will land this year. “There is a heavy fruit crop, and a long way to go until harvest wraps in May,” he said. “With a little rain or an additional irrigation allotment, we might see the fruit gain some size and continue to progress.”
OPPORTUNITY AND CONCERN
Anciso said year-over-year declines in Florida citrus production have presented an opportunity for Texas producers to gain market share. Texas ranks behind Florida and California in citrus production, with a total economic impact exceeding $300 million annually.
Longer term, access to irrigation water remains the industry’s biggest challenge, Anciso said. Falcon Reservoir, which provides most of the region’s agricultural water allotments, rose from 9% capacity to around 15% capacity after Amistad Reservoir captured heavy rainfall and released water earlier this year. However, overall supplies remain critically low and uncertain. “Citrus producers are feeling the squeeze,” Anciso said.
Texas’ citrus industry is almost completely located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, with most of its 19,000 orchard acres located in Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties.
Source: Texas A&M AgriLife
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